National Portal Day 2023. Image Credit Cian Flynn
Parallel Session 1: 11.55am – 12.45pm
Presentation and Discussion: Mantle of the Expert: A dramatic inquiry approach to teaching and learning that is engaging, imaginative and child-centred: Room EQ002
Tara Power, Assistant lecturer Drama in Education at TU Dublin will discuss the Dramatic Inquiry approach she uses in her workshops Mantle of the Expert (MOE). (MOE) was created by UK based educator Dorothy Heathcote (1926-2011). This student-centred approach begins with the group’s needs, interests and curriculum objectives and further develops in the classroom where educators and students co-create real and fictional spaces. Tensions, conflicts, and decisions are explored in and out of role, and solutions are decided upon collectively. MOE can be used with learners of all ages and can be implemented into a diverse range of subjects making learning meaningful and exciting.
Tara Power is a drama education practitioner and lecturer that uses the Mantle of the Expert approach. Living in Beijing, she wrote and delivered an early year’s drama education curriculum. She created and led the drama education component of a multi-disciplinary arts partnership project (IDEA camp) in collaboration with TU Dublin. In 2022 and 2023 Tara worked with the Clonmel Junction Arts Festival. She is currently an artist in residence in three schools for BLAST (arts in education), TAP (teacher artist partnership) and in her third residency as Tipperary artist in the primary classroom. www.linkedin.com/in/tara-power-pgdip-ma-6b81a04
Presentation and Discussion: Realising Children’s Right to Art and Culture: Transforming The Ark’s Engagement with children in schools: Room EQ212
Shannon Callahan will talk about The Ark’s Access for Schools Programme, about how it endeavours to make and share art for, by, with and about children, realising their right to art and culture with ambition and joy. She will show how the Access programme is removing financial and social barriers while encouraging continuous and comprehensive engagement with children. Learning and Schools Coordinator Shannon, will discuss the programme’s intentions and impact with City Connects Coordinator Emma Nugent. Shannon will also expand on The Ark’s efforts to reach children nationally through Live From The Ark, which serves to bring typically space-based theatre experiences to a wider audience in a substantial and memorable way.
Shannon Callahan has a BA in Art & Art History and a MPhil in Public History & Cultural Heritage. As Learning & Schools Coordinator at The Ark, Shannon coordinates the schools programme, overseeing the delivery of events at The Ark, in schools, and online. Centring her work on The Ark’s vision of bringing the arts to every child, she responds to access barriers through projects like Ark Access for Schools and expanding The Ark’s digital reach through initiatives like Live From The Ark. Working with schools across Ireland, Shannon brings a wealth of experience in development and delivery of arts and education programmes.
Emma Nugent has a B.A. in Psychology and Art History, a P.G. Dip. in Primary School Teaching, and an M.Sc. in Art Therapy. With over 25 years’ experience working in schools as a teacher and home-school community liaison, Emma has worked extensively in the north-east inner city, and her previous work as an art therapist has shaped a creative approach to her work. Currently, as the City Connects Co-Ordinator for the northeast inner city, Emma combines her extensive knowledge of the local community, teaching experience, therapeutic background, and commitment to social justice with passion for the arts and creativity to ensure that every child receives the services and resources needed to succeed and thrive.
Creative Workshop: Lighting Sparks: Participative learning at the National Museums: Room EQ212
Join Helen Beaumont, Education & Outreach Officer and Niamh Keating, Assistant Education & Outreach Officer from the National Museum of Ireland, Decorative Arts & History Collins Barracks for this hands-on session designed to introduce participants to object-based learning at the National Museum. Through the Changemakers workshop, created in response to the recent ‘we make our own histories’ exhibition by the Museum’s artist-in-residence Anthony Haughey, participants are encouraged to explore the roles of prominent changemakers in Ireland’s past, to inspire their own activism and change for the future. The workshop exemplifies how Museum objects, available at National Museums nationwide, are used in innovative and creative ways in cross curricular teaching, demonstrating how object-based learning can build observational, language and listening skills, encourage critical thinking and empathy and meet a range of learning styles.
Helen Beaumont is Education & Outreach Officer at the National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts & History, Collins Barracks. In this role her responsibilities include policy development in access and learning, exhibition interpretation and collaborating with a range of communities and key stakeholders. As a museum educator she has developed object-based learning programmes for schools and other audiences. She is a graduate of the Arts Management and Cultural Policy MA, UCD. Before joining the Museum, she worked as a second level art teacher in Dublin and London.
Niamh Keating is a primary school teacher and museum educator. She has taught in schools in Dublin and London, where she held a post of responsibility as leader of learning for STEM(STEM & the Creative Arts) and was an ambassador for the Camden STEAM employer commission. Niamh’s museum education experience in Ireland and the UK includes working as Assistant Education & Outreach Officer at the National Museum of Ireland, Inclusion Manager at the Museum of London and Learning and Access Manager at the Wandsworth Museum in London.